So, who owns social media? September 29, 2009

There is always so much talk in the marketing press about who owns social media?

Is it the digital marketing agencies that build the great online sites and viral assets that become the medium for the social media campaign or is it the public relations professionals that are used to shaping brands into digestible consumer-sized pieces to reach audiences in whatever medium best suits them?

This is a debate that has been raging on between marketers and PR’s for years now, but it wasn’t until I recently attended the Global Marketing Forum 2009 at Cass University, that it became extremely apparent where the simplest of answers lie within this debate.

I think we both have ‘claims’ on being able to amplify the success of social media as an integrated team. Much like with every aspect of the marketing mix where the clear divide of responsibilities between marketing and PR has become blurred, the social media space is no different.

Without the marketers we wouldn’t see some of the great campaigns and innovations that are launching brands on the net. You need to look no further than some of the great websites like Skittles Skuffles (which I wrote about on August 5th) to understand that the vision and talent of the marketers is crucial to a brand campaigns success. Likewise, without the knowledge of how best to engage with consumers and online audiences –something that is core to even the most basic of public relations campaigns.

PR’s function of being able to guide and manage the messaging has become much more relevant. Your online reputation is just as, if not more important than your offline one because word will travel faster on the net, so ensuring that brands employ the best skill set to handle this therefore becomes paramount.

Fact of the matter is EVERYONE owns social media, and for anyone to argue anything different is simply wrong. We all have roles to play within this space and we are still learning what its capabilities are, but it is and always has been the individual users that are and should be in control.